I've been toying with a 17 or even the 204.  But I mostly hunt the east, where shots are short.

Hunting PDs in the west with longer shots and more crosswind, has convinced me that 6mm is a better bet on varmints (in the west).

TG, where do you hunt 'otes?  have you had wind problems with the 223?

If you opt for heavier bullets.  What about the 6mm TCU (6x45, or 6x47)?  I like the 270 REN, but it is based upon the 22 Hornet case and is rimmed.  The 270 REN would work fine it you can live with a single shot?

Well just my thoughts out loud.  I know you are going toward the ultra velocity and mini-bullet.  I seem to be thinking a heavier and slower bullet?

BEAR

BEAR

I've been thinking about the 17 since my earlier post.  The site has been down.

The really BIG advantage of the 17 to me would be that it is Not ricochet prone.  If you hunt "settled" areas this could be really very worthwhile.  I've been considering a 17 RF for this reason, shots would also be 50 yards or less, so wind deflection would be a non-consideration.

BEAR

Hey Gene  >>  I'm sure you're aware, but Richard up in Canada makes some interesting bullets for the .17 .  Heavy (for caliber), high BC stuff.  Ya might consider getting yourself a barrel with the appropriate twist to stablize these offerings.  Would close the gap concerning any advantages the .223 might have with its heavier bullets and give ya some impressive ballistic capabilities, taboot. 

Enjoy the holiday, my friend.  Hope it finds you and family doing well.  Chat with ya later.  >>  korey 

Timberghozt: Best of luck on your project Rifle in 17 Remington: I have three Varminters in 17 Remington and would not THINK of letting any of them go!

I advise the same for you once you get your 17 Remington online - don't replace ANY of your other Rifles - keep them all!

As to your choice of the Shilen barrel for your 17 Remington I say -superb choice.

My full custom 17 MachIV has a heavy Shilen barrel and the accuracy is just splendid. Its amazingly easy to clean as well.

I have killt Coyotes with both my 17 MachIV and my 17 Remingtons. Berger 25 grain bullets put's them down with gusto!

And that brings me to the purpose of my posting. I LOVE the Berger 25 gr. bullets in all my 17 centerfires!

Please give them a try.

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

Timber;

Barrel break-in is criticle.  Even after one is broken in, cleaning often & thoroughly is usually necessary to keep the accuracy up to snuff.  If you don't like to clean, stay away Joe!

Foo-sure

Crazy2medic: I now own 4 Varmint Rifles in caliber 204 Ruger - I have "loved" this cartridge since it was first available!

There is just about nothing in the Varmint Hunting world that the 204 Ruger can't do! And do it better than 97% of the other Varminting cartridges out there.

AND, if I had to choose one Rifle to Hunt Varmints with and/or to Hunt Coyotes with the 204 Ruger would be it!

The 17 Remington is no slouch when it comes to Varminting. I get excellent accuracy from mine (I still have the 3 Varminters in caliber 17 Remington nowadays) along with impressive lethality on all manner of Varmints.

I think both calibers will work quite well for Timberghozt purposes.

I wonder what he doing these days.

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

Timberghost:

Go to coyotegods.com this will take you to their intro page , click on new board link at the bottom, this will take you to their main page. at the top of the page click on the beginning. this site is set up for the .17 Remington for calling coyotes.

They ar pretty fanatical about this caliber, any way it makes interesting reading, hope this helps.

I tried to make a direct link but it wouldnt transfer.

Timberghotz... I have a friend that just purchased a Weatherby in the little .17 and I hear he is headed out your way shortly, for those pesky P-dogs. I personally know that the .17's need to be cleaned more often and that is about it OK. I have never hunted with one of them, did shoot a couple years back.

I am positive you can kill a coyote with one, if your shots are up close and accurate in the vitals, NO shoulder shots I would think NOT. I really don't like using the .222 Rem. on coyotes with explosive varmint bullets. I much prefer my 6mm/06 , 25/06 or 6.5/.270WSM. I am not knocking those who shoot the .223 or .204 Ruger mind you but those 06 wildcats just Rock On folks.

Fella's;

I'm exactly where I have been, no change, and no need for anything under .22 diameter.  I've got a variety of .22's both rim and centerfire, and they do the work I give them just fine.  My main go-to coyote gun is a 6mm Remington.  The wind has been known to blow a bit on the front range of the Rockies & the 6mm handles it better with absolutely spectacular performance on coyotes to boot.

900F

CB900F....I traded my long time varmint/predator rifle (model 700 Remginton BDL in 6mm cal. ) off 2 weeks ago, sat around the house thinking, then decided to go get it back and convert it to a .22/6mm but it was already sold.

It was the most accurate rifle I ever owned up until the last 7 years or so. It shot .350 MOA off the bench with Sierra BT bullets and a dose of IMR-4320 power, using a 6 x 18 Unertile rifle scope. 

I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find out that Unertle scope wasn't worth about $750.00 - 1,000.00 all by itself.

Foo

CB900F: Yeah there is a reason - in fact SEVERAL reasons a successful Varminter should own and use Varmint Rifles in 17 and 20 caliber - calibers "under 22 caliber" like you mention.

If you are happy with the gaping wounds and holes in fur that a 6mm Remington produces on Coyotes, Bobcats and Fox then so be that.

Fur friendlieness of the 204 Ruger and the 17 Remington is another VERY practical and important factor in the superior attributes equation of  17 Remington/204 Ruger over the 6mm Remington vs. Coyotes.

Don't forget the successful Coyote Hunter will have many occassions where he NEEDS to spot the impact point of his fired bullets - can't do that with a 6mm Remington as the recoil is just to heavy. You can do that with either a 17 Remington or a 204 Ruger though.

I have shot numerous Coyotes with my 20 and 17 caliber centerfires and as yet have not noticed any ruination of their pelts.

Then this, I am not going to waste much time arguing ballistics and trajectories with you 6mm Remington vs. 204 Ruger and/or 17 Remington wise - I am simply going to ask you to go view some trajectory charts and wind drift tables for the these 3 cartridges.

In reality your inexperience and ignorance of what the 204 Ruger and the 17 Remington both accomplish afield, is "blinding" you.

Thats a shame.

During the first 5 full decades of my life I used to ignore people who were "stuck on stupid" so to speak - this last decade though I have not been so quick to ignore, ignorance.

In your case you should know better, but you don't - again that is  shame!

I own several Varmint Rifles in 6mm Remington along with NUMEROUS Rifles in 6mm PPC, 6x47, 6mm Remington Bench Rest, 243 Winchester, 240 Weatherby and 6mm Remington Ackley Improved - suffice it to say I have PLENTY of experience with the 6's. AND I would rather Hunt Coyotes anymore with either the 17 Remington or the 204 Ruger anyday and under any circumstances!

I hope your trip to a good ballistics site and comparing the 6mm Remington to the 204 Ruger and the 17 Remington is an enlightening journey, and the numbers shown therein out to normal Coyote Hunting ranges "sinks in" - I hope, but I am not confident.

NEVER, degrade the 204 Ruger even in oblique and ambiguous ways like you have tried here to do here.

People that KNOW better may just take you to task!

In fact start your journey of discovery and enlightenment on page 92 of the 2,009 Remington catalog! While there compare the trajectories of the factory loaded 6mm Remington to the 204 Ruger - when both are sighted in at 200 yards the 204 shoots both its offerings to a 12" flatter trajectory out at 500 yards than the 6mm Remington offering!

Flatness of a Rifles trajectory is an extremely important attribute of a Coyote Hunting Rifle/cartridge.

Hmmm..... YEAH, there is definitely "a need"!

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy 

Fella's;

Hoo-haw!  And, a further stain upon my escutcheon, I don't give a damn about a coyote pelt.  All I want is a dead coyote. 

That being said, the 6mm Remington seems to work very well at producing dead coyotes for me.  If it ain't broke, I heed my daddy's advice, & don't try to fix it.  Particularly given the circumstances of today's firearms enviroment. 

And speaking of that enviroment, let's see here, buy not one but two new guns, scopes, brass, bullets, and dies.  Brass and bullets are so modestly priced & easy to find these days, there's no excuse at all not to do it!  Right?  Right?  Riiighht.  Oh and the .17, I forgot, foolish me,  that's a rimfire & I can't buy brass & bullets, just loaded ammunition.  So, I've got 1.5 oodles of .22 rimfire in stock, and I can reload .223 as cheap (or possibly cheaper these days) as .17!  Therefore, I should go out and buy how much .17?  When I can easily go through several hundred rounds of .22 rimfire a day gopher shooting, to match that in .17 at how much more money?  Oh, and I don't go through a lot of .22 rimfire 'cause I miss a lot with that poor old outdated cartridge.  I shoot in a target rich enviroment. 

And then there's the 6.5 Swede project.  Perhaps I should let that languish to jump on a bandwagon I don't need to.  As you should be able to see, the subs are sub-interesting to me for several very good reasons.

You know, I don't recall ever dissin' anybody for shooting the subs either.  I have said that I don't want one, don't need one, don't want to clean them, and find no compelling reason to have one.  Hell, I don't even write letters to the editor about 'em.  Since I'm gonna take flak anyway, maybe I should start.

Dear Editor;

To be continued  .

900F   

Here, Here!!!

Hell I use my 45/70 on gophers because I want to !!!!